


A long time ago …

by kitty7



Category: Homeland
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, F/M, Fun, Gen, Humor, Multi, Science Fiction, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2018-10-30 06:47:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10871319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitty7/pseuds/kitty7
Summary: … in a galaxy far, far away ...New colleagues Carrie Mathison and Peter Quinn have to sort out their relationship, just as a new threat emerges!It doesn’t always have to make sense, right? Have fun!Chapter 2 posted for the advent calendar 2017 on December 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Laure001](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laure001/gifts).



The human foot was laid out on the table in the middle of the ops room. Stuck in a low boot, separated from the leg well above the ankle.

Saul Berenson, Carrie Mathison, Peter Quinn, Virgil and Max Piotrowski stared at it, trying to process what they saw. It was not so much the ghastly sight of the human debris itself that shocked the CIA staff, although junior member Fara Sherazi brought a hand to her mouth, swallowing back.

What was disturbing, was the way the foot had been disjoined from the corresponding leg. It had clearly been chopped off, and, judging by the bite marks, it was the work of a human pair of teeth.

Which left only one logical explanation: The foot’s former owner must have been attacked by a zombie!

Just, no zombie had ever been spotted in this part of the galaxy!

„Looks like we have a bigger problem than our favorite terrorist suspect Nicholas Brody,“ Peter Quinn said.

\---

Carrie jumped off the desert glider onto the dusty ground. She was mad at counter terrorism chief David Estes for calling her off the Brody surveillance and forcing her to investigate the place where the gnawed-off foot had been discovered.

That’s what you get if you fuck your superiors, she thought bitterly. And especially if you ditch them afterwards.

And of course Estes had sent her new watchdog along, this irritatingly self-assured fucker Peter Quinn, who had the nerve to think he could orchestrate the surveillance on Brody better than she did.

He pissed her off – just by showing up in the office every morning.

Carrie had gone through the regular self-defense training that became mandatory for everyone after the zombie outbreak on earth. But she had zero experience fighting the undead. She had never even seen a zombie for real. 

So, what the fuck was she doing out here while her newly recruited asset Nicholas Brody, ex-Marine, ex-terrorist-hostage, turned by the enemy, was preparing an attack on headquarters, a vital waterplant, the president, or whoever he was send to take out?

Fucking know-it-all Peter Quinn was certainly better suited to investigate a presumed zombie-spotting!

Since Virgil had looked into Quinn and connected him to the head of black ops and zombie-slaying legend Dar Adal, Carrie was sure Quinn had been hacking zombies to pieces by the hundreds during the so-called „War on the Undead“ on earth.

Not that it could’ve been much of a war, though, butchering dumb human shells who moved like robots!

Yesterday, when they had briefed Estes about the foot, Quinn had almost engaged in a yelling match with the counter terrorism chief because he refused to give the people of Alpha One a warning. Estes wanted iron-clad proof for a zombie outbreak before he would risk a planet-wide panic.

Now, with Max and Virgil as a second team, they had checked the settlement closest to the spot where the foot had been discovered. Everything seemed alright. The villagers reported no irregularities and no-one was missing. From the coordinates where the foot had been found, they had spotted a rock formation and Carrie and Quinn searched the place, while Max and Virgil checked another hill further south.

Carrie drew her gun. They were approaching a huge metal structure that resembled an old water tank. It was all rusty and looked as if it stemmed from the time of the first settlements on Alpha One.

„So, you have to blow their brains out – must be like killing rats,“ Carrie said provokingly.

„If they don’t get you first,“ Quinn answered calmly, his eyes scanning the rocks. Quinn was tense. He _had_ been in the middle of the zombie crisis on earth, and he knew better than to underestimate the undead, no matter how well-equipped his team might be.

In the months since his arrival on Alpha One, Quinn had to put up with plenty of the arrogant attitude the interstellar CIA agents displayed towards the black ops forces from earth. Forces that had actually dealt with the undead, while the self-proclaimed CIA-elite sat in their fucking little paradise on zombie-free Alpha One and tried to infiltrate terrorist cells that managed occasional attacks on energy plants.

Years of zombie epidemic and some people still didn’t get where the real threat came from!

„Try to look at the bigger picture, Carrie,“ Quinn said. „If another planet gets infested with zombies, mankind will be in deep shit!“

He had a point, Carrie had to admit.

The planet they were moving on, Alpha One, was one of three in the galaxy where the atmosphere was suited for humans to live without artificial provision of oxygen. Zombies made huge parts of the earth uninhabitable, with people having to live behind high walls under the constant threat of breakthroughs and a recurring shortage of provisions.

Alpha Zero was a very small planet and already densely populated. Which left Alpha One as the only possible dwelling quarter for a growing mankind and its need for resources.

A zombie outbreak on Alpha One would actually put the future of humans at stake!

They had reached the tank. Looking around the empty desert, Carrie said: „Now, where are the monsters?“

She knocked her gun hard against the rusty metal. A loud sound broke the silence. Tank filled with some liquid, she made a mental note.

„What the fuck are you doing?“ Quinn hissed.

„That should draw them out,“ Carrie answered and repeated the knock, „they respond to noise, don’t they, if not to much else.“

She didn’t even see him move, but Quinn suddenly locked Carrie’s gun hand above her head against the tank. Just inches away from her face, his eyes dangerously narrowed, he said: „Don’t you ever do that again.“

Carrie involuntarily tried to step back, blinking into Quinn’s face. She had never seen anybody move so quickly.

„You can take this lightly and play with your life,“ Quinn said. „But if you get bitten, I will have to shoot you!“

He released her. „You will stay right behind me, understood? No solo flights!“

Carrie didn’t know what to say. The „fuck you“ she was about to deliver died on her lips. She would never admit it, but she was impressed and even a little scared by this sudden assault.

Quinn started to move around the tank, and for once Carrie thought it wise to follow.

The tank was placed in front of a rock formation. It was jagged and ended in small and bigger recesses. Quinn motioned for Carrie to stay back and started to search one of the slots.

„We’ll need back-up,“ he said on coming out. „Checking them all will take hours.“

Carrie nodded. Back-up was excellent. Anything to get her out of this shithole and back to her real mission.

While switching on her earpiece, Carrie moved towards the next rocky slot, when suddenly a human figure blocked her way.

She stared into a pale face with dead eyes and bared teeth.

Gun still in hand, she was completely unable to move.

Every lecture on zombies Carrie had ever attended had mentioned the phenomenon: Most people were paralyzed when they had a first encounter with an undead creature. They were thunderstruck and couldn't defend themselves, that’s why it was so easy for the zombies to attack. But it was civilians of course, normal people.

Carrie had never believed it would apply to herself, a trained agent.

The zombie didn’t share Carrie’s surprise. It knocked her from her feet with one blow and was on top of her. She saw its teeth closing in on her throat, when a knife sizzled through the air and hit the zombie in the head, right between the eyes.

She shoved the zombie aside and tried to scramble away, but something held her back. In utmost horror, Carrie watched how a second zombie sank its teeth into her ankle. She wanted to scream but managed only a faint „ieek“.

The motherfucker was chewing on her leg!

Only her boot, hopefully bite-proof as promised by the manufacturer and luckily higher than the ankle, prevented the zombie’s teeth from digging deep into her calf.

Then Quinn was upon them. In one swift motion, he cut the zombie’s head off, threw it aside and yanked Carrie to her feet.

She stumbled up, close to vomiting, while Quinn shoved her forward, yelling: „Go, go, go.“

Through a cloudy haze, Carrie saw more zombies coming towards them from the rocks!

Quinn knew a person suffering from zombie shock when he saw one, and he knew there was not much he could do. Slapping the face helped sometimes, but somehow that was not an option with Carrie Mathison.

He half pushed, half pulled her, away from the rocks. While rushing past the tank, Quinn attached a small device to it: A zombie-distractor started to make irregular sounds. If they were lucky, this would keep the undead by the tank.

They had almost made it back to the glider, when shots ripped through the air. Virgil and Max had pulled up to them and were using their machine guns to fire at the zombies.

„Fuck,“ Quinn muttered.

Machine guns were about the most ineffective weapons to use on zombies!

Quinn started shouting into his earpiece: „Stop it, just fucking stop the shooting.“

He was still yelling, apparently unheard, when he shoved Carrie into the glider and started it. Just when they gained some speed, a terrible noise killed every other sound and a second later the blast wave from the explosion hit the glider and pushed it forward.

Once he had stabilized the vehicle, Quinn reduced the speed and turned around. An enormous fireball was enveloping the rocks. Whatever had been inside the tank, the shots had ignited it.

The other glider was speeding up to them though, through clouds of dust.

Carrie was barely able to process what was happening. She frantically tugged at her boot, small sobs, paired with hard panting and weak cries, escaped her mouth. Quinn climbed out and came around to her side. He opened the door and knelt down to examine Carrie’s leg.

With an expert move he pulled the boot down. It had provided excellent protection: There was zombie saliva dripping from it, but the bite had not perforated the enhanced leather.

„Look,“ Quinn said, „there is no injury. You’ll be ok!“

Carrie stared down, still shaking.

Quinn looked up to her and said, with a surprisingly tender tone: „It’s only the first time like this. It will get better afterwards.“

They both held the gaze for a moment, comtemplating the horrible fact that there _would_ be a next time, now that zombies were confirmed on Alpha One.

Carrie took a deep breath.

„Thank you,“ she said. „That was ... amazing!“

Quinn gave her a small smile before he got up and looked back at the fire, wondering if it would leave any evidence of a zombie outbreak on Alpha One.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carrie and Quinn are surveiling Brody when their investigation turns awry. 
> 
> Advent calendar: December 18

The yelling match counter terrorism chief David Estes and CIA-operative Peter Quinn had avoided the day before was under way via video conference.

Estes refused to give a zombie alert for the planet Alpha One and now everybody in the room watched how the ever-controlled Peter Quinn not only raised his voice but was slowly going mad.

Even CIA-officer Carrie Mathison looked up from the monitor where the object of her attention, terrorist suspect Nicholas Brody, was having a tense dinner with his wife and kids.

Several teams had investigated the place where Quinn and Carrie had encountered zombies and the teams had found – nothing.

The explosion by the rocks left a completely burned-out site, with just a few chalked bones on the desert ground.

Under pressure, Max and Virgil said they had seen „pale figures“ by the rocks. They had only watched through binoculars.

There was room for interpretation.

The official wording was that all the undead had been destroyed by the explosion, and Alpha One was declared zombie-free for now.

When the comm was down, Carrie saw Quinn clench his teeth. He clearly fought for control. Apparently Quinn didn't mess around when it came to zombies! They had not been working together for long and she didn't particularly like his quip, but Quinn was a cool operative, efficient and hardly ever showed any emotion. For a moment Carrie was fascinated how her colleague was losing it now.

But when she realized that he stared back, Carrie turned to the monitor that zoomed in on Brody’s living room.

She had quickly overcome her zombie shock and was all focused on what she considered important.

„It could be true,“ Carrie said, „maybe all zombies have been burned in the fire.“

„Imagine a panic on the planet,“ came the sounding voice of senior officer Saul Berenson from the back. „We should definetely avoid that!“

Now Quinn gave them both an incredulous look.

„Somehow the important question is getting lost along the way,“ he said. „Did you ever think how those zombies came to Alpha One?“

Carrie, not able to come up with an answer right away, gave him an irritated look.

„What does it matter?“ she asked. „Even the zombie epidemic on earth is not wholly solved. Noone knows where it comes from, so why should we bother? It broke out on earth, now it has reached Alpha One.“

„Zombies don’t travel through space just like that. And the virus doesn’t either.“

„We don’t even know if it is a virus,“ Carrie replied. „People just use that term for convenience.“

„That’s what I’m saying,“ Quinn replied. „We don’t know anything about the biggest threat to mankind.“

Carrie thought the whole zombie-business was a waste of time anyway. There were specially trained zombie squads that could deal with it! Why should CIA analysts waste their precious time fighting undead monsters?

Her mission was Nicholas Brody, the marine taken prisoner by one of the terrorist cells operating on Alpha One seven years ago and just recently freed. Which was considered a huge success by the CIA, combined with the military forces. They had brought home a lost hero!

But Carrie was sure that Brody had been turned by the terrorists.

She just couldn’t prove it.

And that’s why the whole Brody-surveillance was a constant struggle for money, for staff and for material. Dealing with zombies would just draw away further resources.

Fucking CIA-bureaucrats that demanded ridiculous proof instead of believing in Carrie Mathison’s infallable hunches!

But she was resolved to find out what Brody’s mission was, and then the world would see who was right!

Carrie had spent hours and hours watching him since his return. She knew what tea he preferred, the way he brushed his teeth, the brand of his underwear. She knew a conspiracy if she saw one and just from the way Brody looked at his wife, Carrie could clearly deduce: He was plotting an attack!

She just didn’t know about his target!

„Ok, let’s get back and focus!“ Carrie said.

Quinn stared intensely at the monitor, apparently looking at nothing.

„Yeah,“ he said suddenly, „let’s get back to Brody!“

\----

Later that day, Brody received a call that they couldn’t track. When he left his house, a surveillance team followed him. Carrie and Quinn took over by an old industrial complex, where the ex-marine disappeared into a huge hall.

They checked the building, looking for an entrance from the side. The abandoned factory was a messy labyrinth of industrial alleys with steel parts all over. Carrie crouched behind a low bar and some boxes, while Brody was at the other end of the hall, talking to a dubious figure whose identity Carrie couldn’t make out. She suspected it to be Roya Hammond, Brody’s handler from the terrorist cell who gave him orders and possibly provided him with weapons. She tried to get closer by carefully creeping along the floor.

Quinn was supposed to enter the building via the fire escape, about two storeys above. The industrial area had not been used for many years, but a low, buzzing sound came from somewhere inside the hall. It muffled any sounds Carrie might make, but it also dampened Brody's voice.

Getting closer, Carrie suddenly got a clear view and her heartbeat accelerated. Brody was not meeting with Roya Hammond, not at all.

Carrie’s breath stopped as the man turned his head.

She used to have dreams about him, nightmares, and she would have known his face in a mass of hundreds of people!

Brody was talking to Abu Nazir. One of the most wanted terrorists on Alpha One, who was responsible for dozens of attacks on military _and_ civilian outposts and whom she had hunted for years.

Carrie felt a warmth spreading inside her body. Relief and triumph.

She had been right, she had been fucking right!

Brody _was_ a traitor and most of all he was conspiring with Abu Nazir. And apparently this fucking terrorist, who hid in the desert mountains on the other side of the planet, had come to the city of New Langley on Alpha One especially to meet with Brody.

She, Carrie Mathison, had been right!

Then her mind went into overdrive: Abu Nazir was not likely to be alone, he would not take that kind of risk. So, there must be others, bodyguards, whoever. She realized that not only Abu Nazir was taking an enormous risk, but that also she and Quinn were in immediate danger now.

He must’ve spotted her somehow. Or maybe he knew. Suddenly there was a gun in Abu Nazir’s hand and he started to shoot at Carrie. She ducked down and a spray of gunfire went past her.

Fuck, Carrie thought. She couldn't fire at Abu Nazir because she wanted the motherfucker alive. She had invested years of her life and now she would not just kill the most important suspect of her career!

Carrie found cover behind a steel bank, but another salve of gunfire followed her. Somewhere to her left a series of small explosions went off, smoke and fire coming from something that must have been a generator. The buzzing sound died.

It dawned on Carrie that capturing Nazir alive was one thing, but that first she would have to make it out of here alive herself, when suddenly two shots were fired directly from above.

Carrie saw Nazir go down while Brody was holding his leg. „No,“ she screamed, „don’t shoot him“ and started running towards them. Quinn was behind her, coming down the stairs.

But Carrie didn’t see the gun that Nazir was hiding under his body. It was Quinn’s snipers’ eyes that detected it and before the terrorist could aim at Carrie, Quinn fired at Nazir, wounding him in the chest.

Carrie reached the two men and kicked Nazir’s gun aside. She was on top of him, trying to stop the heavy bleeding coming from his chest. She realized that blood came out of Nazir’s mouth as well.

Quinn was right behind her, checking Brody for guns and cuffing his hands to a steel railing. Brody was holding his wounded leg, wincing.

„That bastard shot me, I can’t believe he really shot me,“ Brody yelled at Carrie and Quinn at the same time.

„Ambulance,“ Carrie gasped, „get help.“

Hands on Nazir’s chest, she joined Brody in yelling at Quinn.

„Why did you have to shoot him? Why couldn’t you just fucking wound him?“

„I _did_ only wound him,“ Quinn said calmly, phone in hand. „You fucking had to run to him. Can you please once think before you act?“

Quinn was clearly pissed. He had to take a second shot while running down the narrow stairway because Carrie had brought herself into the line of fire. And yes, Abu Nazir was likely to die under her hands right now. Life was quickly fading out of the most wanted man on Alpha One. Which left Nicholas Brody as their top suspect now.

Quinn bent down to check his pulse and when he couldn’t detect it anymore, he took Carrie’s hands and guided them away from Nazir’s body.

„Carrie, it’s over. It’s too late!“

„No,“ she screamed, „no, fuck, he's mine. I want him alive!“

Quinn took her bloody hands and held them, forcing her to look at him.

„Abu Nazir’s dead,“ he said.

Carrie just looked at him wide-eyed, while Brody whimpered behind them.

And then something else caught Quinn’s attention.

A huge door to a room had sprung open and white fog came out. It must have been connected to the generator Abu Nazir’s crossfire had hit and the power supply locking the door was down now.

Quinn took out his gun and carefully approached the door. Carrie was right behind him, gun drawn. Quinn realized that the fog was cold. There must be a cooling device inside the room, creating a gigantic refrigerator. The fog was obstructing the view, and Quinn moved closer.

He opened the door a little more, when he realized he should have closed it instead.

Too late, too bloody late!

Bloodthirsty zombies were coming towards them!

Quinn shot the first one before leaping back, but they just trampled on. Carrie got the next two, but it didn’t stop them.

The zombies spilled out of the cooling room, extending their creepy arms and baring their horrible teeth.

Quinn was already on his way back to Brody, while Carrie shot a couple more of the undead, always aiming at the head, right between the eyes. But she couldn’t stop the sheer mass of them.

The hall would soon be swarming with zombies!

They had to get out of here!

Quinn opened Brody’s handcuffs and shoved him forward as best as he could move the large figure. Brody was completely unable to move, clearly suffering from zombie shock. Carrie came right behind them, shooting and watching in horror how the zombies started to tear at Abu Nazir’s still warm body.

They had almost reached the large front gate when a bunch of zombies came from the left, closest to Carrie. Quinn let go of Brody and killed them almost routinely. Brody went down, unable to stand on his wounded leg and still thunderstruck.

And then there was nothing they could do: The creatures were all around now and then they were upon Brody on the ground. Quinn pulled a struggling Carrie forward, made it through the gate and managed to close it.

„We have to get him, we have to get back inside,“ Carrie yelled.

„He’s gone, Carrie,“ Quinn shouted, using all his force to keep her from running back into the hall.

„Brody’s fucking dead.“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to finlyfoe for deep frozen zombies and to Zeffy for nudging me!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Laure for introducing zombies ;)


End file.
